I’ve held back on talking about this for a few days to let this whole thing stew. Sometimes my knee-jerk reaction to political speeches ages over time. I read the people who disagree with me, and I find myself agreeing with them. I wanted to make sure that this wasn’t one of those times.
It’s not.
What I really think was a well-intentioned attempt to explain just what it means to be down and out when you’re not in Beverly Hills or a San Fransisco mansion on Billionaires Row turned into the sort of thing you say at the water cooler, not in the board room. People keep trying to contextualize it, or soften it up, but the simple truth is that being an executive means that you emphasize the best qualities of the people you lead, and are very specific about the bad– the only reason you mention them is if you see a problem that you are ready to address.
As a candidate in the primaries, this is not his task. This is a job that parents and educators need to address with young people, and that adults who may find themselves falling into the sort of security blanket isolationism Obama is talking about need to figure out for themselves. I have to wonder what the ramifications would be if he said something along similar lines that “everyone knew was true” about Ahmadinejad. After all, he says things about us that I’m sure resonate with Iranians, and even some Americans. Doesn’t it make sense for us to be just as honest when we look at the world stage?
As pundits, sure. We can say what we want at the water cooler, and elect leaders who we feel understand what we’re saying and can translate our sentiments into strong foreign policy. As leaders? No. You don’t look to the CEO of a large company to say that the problems with the company stem from the ineptitude of the workers. This may be something that everyone in the board room knows is true, but it’s *not* the way to move forward and inspire better performance in the future.
The correct response to this question should have been, “I like to think that it’s a vanishingly small number of American voters who look at race as a deciding factor when they choose their candidate. My campaign is not about racial differences, it’s about speaking to the needs of every American.” End of story, no thesaurus needed.
